Meathead
Diamond Member
And this is a Labour government. Sounds like Something Trump would do.
Britain will accelerate an increase to its defense spending, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday, on the eve of a crucial visit to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington.
Starmer said he will raise military spending from 2.3% of Britain’s GDP to 2.5% by 2027, and then again to 2.6% the following year, as a rift opens up between Trump and Europe over the future of the war in Ukraine.
“We must reject any false choice between our allies. Between one side of the Atlantic or the other. That is against our history, country and party,” Starmer told members of parliament. He called Britain’s relationship with America his country’s “most important bilateral alliance,” and said: “This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength.”
Related articleEurope can’t count on the US to be its bodyguard. That’s great for its defense companies
Starmer also set an ambition to hike defense spending to 3% in the next parliament, which will begin in 2029 at the latest, after the next general election. That final target would depend on the fiscal conditions at the time, Starmer said. Trump has urged NATO countries to raise their defense spending to 5% and made clear that the US will not work to maintain Europe’s security in the future.
“This government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” Starmer told parliament as he laid out the plans.
The increase will be funded in part through a cut to international development spending, which will now fall from 0.5% of Britain’s GDP to 0.3% in the coming years, Starmer said. “That is not an announcement I am happy to make,” he said, adding the defense increase “can only be funded through hard choices.”
Britain will accelerate an increase to its defense spending, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday, on the eve of a crucial visit to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington.
Starmer said he will raise military spending from 2.3% of Britain’s GDP to 2.5% by 2027, and then again to 2.6% the following year, as a rift opens up between Trump and Europe over the future of the war in Ukraine.
“We must reject any false choice between our allies. Between one side of the Atlantic or the other. That is against our history, country and party,” Starmer told members of parliament. He called Britain’s relationship with America his country’s “most important bilateral alliance,” and said: “This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength.”
Related articleEurope can’t count on the US to be its bodyguard. That’s great for its defense companies
Starmer also set an ambition to hike defense spending to 3% in the next parliament, which will begin in 2029 at the latest, after the next general election. That final target would depend on the fiscal conditions at the time, Starmer said. Trump has urged NATO countries to raise their defense spending to 5% and made clear that the US will not work to maintain Europe’s security in the future.
“This government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” Starmer told parliament as he laid out the plans.
The increase will be funded in part through a cut to international development spending, which will now fall from 0.5% of Britain’s GDP to 0.3% in the coming years, Starmer said. “That is not an announcement I am happy to make,” he said, adding the defense increase “can only be funded through hard choices.”
